Transcendant Wisdom? (was Re: Snape and Teaching, Does it Matter?)

[annemehr]

No: HPFGUIDX 128452

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at y...> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> 
> wrote:
>   It also flies directly in 
> > the face of JKR's own statement that she really has no 
> > particular "moral lesson" or "great theme" in mind.  
> 
> 
> Tonks:
> Please tell me where to find that information. When did she say that?? 
> Do you have a link to an interview?
> 
> Tonks_op

Annemehr:
Here's one example of what she really did say (from the World Book Day
chat of March '04):

Majeed from Bristol Grammar School - Bristol: "To what extent did you
conceive Harry Potter as a moral tale?"
****SCHOOLS COMPETITION WINNER****
JK Rowling replies -> "I did not conceive it as a moral tale, the
morality sprang naturally out of the story, a subtle but important
difference. I think any book that sets out to teach or preach is
likely to be hard going at times (though I can think of a couple of
exceptions)."


>From the Diane Rehm Show of Dec. '99 (sparked by a question by a
listener about whether characters ought to be dying):

"[Literature is] a fabulous way to explore those things. Now, I don't
set out thinking, "this is what they're going to learn in this book",
ever. I have a real horror of preaching to anyone, or of trying to
make, you know, enormous points. You know, I'm not driven by the need
to "teach" children anything, although those things do come up
naturally in the stories, which I think is quite moral. Because it's a
battle between good and evil. But I do think, that to pretend to
children that life is sanitized and easy, when they already know -
they don't need me to tell them - that life can be very difficult. If
it hasn't happened in their own family, one of their friends' fathers
will be... dying. Or some - you know, they're in contact with this
from a very early age. And it's not a bad idea that they meet this in
literature. It's not a bad idea that they can see a character who is -
I mean, Harry is a human boy, he makes mistakes, but I think he came
as a very noble character, he's a brave character and he strives to do
the right thing. And to see a fictional character dealing with those
sort of things, I think can be very very helpful."



For the record, I think of Jo as a wonderful teacher, but I don't feel
the need to rank her place on some all-time list of teacherdom.

Annemehr